January Sales Thread: U.S. LV SAAR Tops 15 Million for 3rd Month

Fri, 2013-02-01 15:45

Double-digit gains for Detroit 3 andToyotawere offset by lower than expected gains from Honda, and year-over-year declines in daily sales from other manufacturers.The estimated U.S. Light Vehicle SAAR fell just below December's rate, to 15.24 million units, marking the third consecutive month the seasonal rate topped the 15 million mark.

WardsAuto forecast: 15.53 million
Current projected SAAR: 15.24 million

WardsAuto tracks sales throught the day. Year-over-year change represents the change in daily sales rate (DSR). January had 25 selling days this year, and 24 last year.

3:45: FINAL: All in. Industry daily sales of light vehicles were up 9.7%, (sales volume for the month was up 14.3% with one extra selling day). The SAAR hit 15.24 million units, 1.8% below WardsAuto expectations, but still strong, marking the third consecutive month of 15 million-plus sales rates.

2:30 Update: With only Jaguar Land Rover yet to report, the estimated U.S. Light Vehicle SAAR fell just below December's rate.

Kia sales mimicked followed sister-auto maker Hyundai's, with a 2.2% increase in volume sales giving the Korean company an "all-time record January" even though its daily sales rate fell 1.9% from year-ago. Mazda 21,319 deliveries beat expectations, but the company's waining daily sales were still off 14.7%.

Daimler bucked the relatively downbeat trend among European auto makers, posting a 6.4% bump in daily sales, and outselling competitor BMW Group by roughly 3,900 units.

1:30 p.m. The top four auto makers this month had significantly better months than the second tier of companies. Detroit 3 and Toyota all had double-digit DSR gains this month, lifting early SAAR estimates as high as 15.63 million. The second big wave or company reports pulled that estimate to down to just 15.1 million.

Nissan's daily sales were down 2.1% versus year-ago, with the extra selling day this year boosting the auto maker's monthly volume 2%, much like Hyundai (see 1:15 update). BMW similarly reported sales of just 20,195, a 1.8% decline in daily sales.

By comparison -Honda, 8.3% uptick in DSR, against weak year-ago results, looks fairly strong until you compare it to Toyota's 21.6%, or even Chrysler's 12.1% gain.

Other notes:Strong month for Cadillac (up 41%) and Large Pickups boosts GM DSR 17%, for auto maker's best January in five years. Chevy/GMC large pickups outsell F-Series by biggest margin since September 2011.

10:30 a.m.: All three Detroit auto makers have reported. GM sales were up 11.3%on a daily basis over last January, to 194,699 units. Ford sales jumped even higher, up nearly 17% over year-ago's DSR, to 163,319 - beating Toyota by 5,600 units to retain the No. 2 monthly position. Ford saw strong Fusion sales after several months of low inventories, and an engine recall hampered the new vehicle's early sales. And Escape, also recovering from a recall-related December sales dip, had a record January for Ford.